100 Transition Words, Definition and Example Sentences

100 Transition Words, Definition and Example Sentences

Transition Words

Using transition words in your sentences or conversations can greatly help you improve the quality of your sentences. Transition words include words such as ‘because’,’ but’,’ and’. Such words, sentences, expressions and even paragraphs show the relationship between the full sense. When you use Transition words, you make it very easy for listeners to understand how your ideas and thoughts are connected. Let’s take this with an example:

• We went to Paris and as a result we spent the holiday there.

When you start this sentence with the word ‘as a result’, your listener will immediately understand two things:

• That what happened in the first sentence led to another situation,
• The second sentence describes the effect.

By using the phrase ‘as a result’ in this section, you clearly show that two different sentences are part of a single process. Your listener can easily guess what will happen without even reading the rest of the sentence. In a way, transition words can be the glue that holds your text together. Without these words, your text will be a collection of sentences. Transition words combine the parts one by one to form a single whole. Transition words do not always have to be placed at the beginning of a sentence. For example:

• John is a very honest man. Yesterday he invited us to dinner for example.

In this example, the word ‘for example’ is placed at the end of the sentence. However, it will still provide the listener with information about how the two sentences are related.

• I love Melissa so much because she helps me in every situation.

In this example, ‘because’ binds two sentences. In short, transition words can link every word, from short phrases to entire paragraphs.

Examples

Let’s give more concrete examples of this issue. Read two different texts carefully!

Text 1

We will discuss a few reasons why it is necessary to practice to fully learn skills. The only way to fully master a talent is to really do what you have to do in the real world. In our opinion, practicing can be a great way to devote the necessary hours. There are bound to be some people who will disagree. It has been proven that people tend to remember only 15-20% of what they read or hear. When you put the theory into practice, this number increases to 95%. Following description with practice is the key to literally mastering a talent.

Text 2

In this text, we will discuss several reasons for what practice is important for mastering skills. First, the only way to fully learn a talent is to do what needs to be done in the real world.

Second, we think it could be a great way to allocate the hours needed. Some people think otherwise, but we disagree. Third, and most importantly, it has been proven that people tend to remember only 15-20% of what they have heard or read. Moreover, when this theory is put into practice, this number increases to 95%. As a result, constantly following the explanation along with practice is the main key to mastering a talent.

Text 1 is not a very bad paragraph. However, it is not easy to understand. Text 2 has done a much better job of showing that there are three different arguments to support the thoughts in the paragraph with a definitive conclusion. Thus, the listener does not have to wonder whether a sentence still belongs to the earlier argument or the newly presented argument. Also, it will even show the reason between sentences in a single argument. Therefore, people will see Text 2 easier to read.

How to Improve the Use of Transition Words?

There are several possible problems when it comes to Transition words. Let’s start with the best method that everyone uses. For example, there are very few people who never use words like’ but’,’ and’,’ or’. Because it is not natural for everyone to use these words correctly and often enough. To use successful sentences related to Transition words, you need to pay attention to a few points;

• Learn the words: Actually knowing transition words is typically a big problem for people whose native language is not English. However, this problem can be eliminated by making frequent repetitions. It is extremely easy to do it again in any case. Just look at the list of transition words and examine their definitions.
• Be sure to be aware of how your ideas and thoughts related to each other: For example, people who have a much better idea of the structure of sentences also use more transition words. They also make these words much more effectively. To do this, first separate your paragraph from an entry, body, and result.

  Then make sure you know for what purpose each paragraph was written. Then, examine your text at a sentence level. Find opportunities to use logical transition words. Solve plenty of examples of this and see how they use transition words by trying to read other people’s texts.

As a result, it is very important to use transition words for writing and reading. But for many people, this can be very difficult. Constantly work on transition words and make sure you practice a lot. Also, be sure to know the structure of your paragraph and sentence.

This way, it will be easier to choose the best quality transition words available.

Comparision

• Equally
• As with
• Likewise
• In the same way
• Similarly
• Like
• Of contrast
• Despite this
• In comparison

Persuasion

• Of course
• Clearly
• Evidently
• Surely
• Indeed
• Undoubtedly
• Decidedly
• Certainly
• For this reason

illustration

• For example
• Such as
• For instance
• Such as
• In other words
• An instance
• As revealed by
• To show that
• In the case of

Opinion

• I think
• I believe
• As far as I know
• It seems likely
• In my experience
• I believe that
• As for me, I think
• If I am not mistaken
• What I mean is
• I’d say that
• Personally,
• I think

Addition

• And
• Also
• In addition
• Further
• Furthermore
• Besides
• In addition to
• Moreover
• Additionally
• Then
• Again
• Finally

Contrast

• However
• Nevertheless
• Alternatively
• Despite this
• On the contrary
• Yet
• Whereas
• Apart from
• Even so
• Although
• In spite of
• While

Time Transitions

After

Afterwards

Before

Then

Currently

Concurrently

Meantime

Once

Next

First

Second

At first

At last

At length

Formerly

Rarely

Usually

Another

Finally

Soon

Meanwhile

At the same time

For a minute

For a hour

For a day

During afternoon

During morning

During day

During week

During month

Later

Ordinarily

To begin with

As long as

When

While

Just as

Since

Until

Every time

Earlier

In the past

Once

Up until that

Yesterday

Consequently

Then

Some of the time

At times

Eventually

Final

Finally

Last of all

Periodically

Rarely

Seldom

Gradually

Occasionally

Following

After that